COVID-19 related curbs, difficulty in commuting, and arrival of sophisticated supply chains and apps during the pandemic have made life difficult for women engaged in fish vending across the State.
While incidents of police brutality and ill-treatment by protocol enforcers are on the rise, the women say they are aghast at the lukewarm response of the government that considers safety of women a priority.
“I have been selling fish for the past 35 years and life has never been so difficult. We are scared to sit at our usual spots and many times a day we are forced to run from one place to another with the heavy basket. These days we get panic attacks seeing government vehicles and we wonder if fish vending is an illegal affair,” says Mercy, a fisherwoman.
She has lost several customers of late as people got accustomed to online purchases and home deliveries during the lockdown. “Most days we arrive late or are forced to conduct sales at different points due to the ever-changing norms.”
According to them, the recent incident at Attingal involving an elderly vendor is not a stray episode. “They say another incident at Paripally is fabricated, but in Attingal you all saw the woman begging the municipal employees not to take away her merchandise. Fisherwomen have been facing this issue at many places and the authorities keep supporting and justifying the perpetrators,” says Mable Rymond, president, Theeradesha Mahilavedi.
With Matsyafed stopping its special bus service to fish landing centres, women are struggling to carry out sales at many places. “Arranging transportation and hiring vehicles to get the catch from harbours have added to our miseries,” she says.
The women say that while the authorities mostly ignore other street vendors, they target fisherwomen. “At Attingal you saw the municipal employees taking the fish to the garbage van and the chairperson arguing for them. Our men risk their lives venturing into the sea in this weather and they simply throw it to the garbage heap. It's our livelihood and seeing that broke our hearts,” says Mercy.
Jenet Cleetus, Thrivananthapuram district secretary of the Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation, says these incidents can be part of a larger conspiracy to help branded supply chains.
“When these incidents continue the women will be forced to go in search of other options. They want to get rid of fisherwomen so that these suppliers will have a monopoly and it may be the reason for this open abuse of power. These women have been selling fish in the same area for decades. The authorities are now trying to kick them out exploiting the COVID-19 situation. They used a similar tactic to evict us from our homes in the name of blue economy. We have decided to launch strong agitations if these atrocities continue,” she adds.
